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What your job description is missing

When you go to work for most companies, you are assigned a job description that includes a section called Key Duties and Responsibilities. This section outlines the things you will be asked to do. In some ways, it is the basic recipe for success in your role.

As an entrepreneur, and in many smaller organizations, no one assigns you Key Duties and Responsibilities. You have to figure out (usually on a daily basis) what needs to be done.

In my mind, my job description reads, “Everyone is counting on you. Work until your eyes bleed if you have to. Just get it all done.”

I really let myself go the past few months. Stress, poor diet, lack of consistent exercise. It not only affected my mood and my health, it also affected the quality of my work. Did I get a lot done? Sure. The business has grown more than 100% over last year. Is it worth sacrificing my health and happiness? No way.

So lately I’ve been getting myself back on track.

I’ve been exercising everyday (Side note #1. Let me say something important about exercise. You don’t have to go nuts. If Crossfit, marathons, 5k’s, and triathlons, are your gig, then great–go for it. But personally, I think a little bit of exercise goes a long way. For me, it’s a short run or a 20 minute video workout. I don’t live to exercise. I exercise to live. Sorry for the cliche, but it’s true. And like so many things in life (maybe everything), it’s way more about consistency than performance.) Anyway, the whole point is that I feel so much better when I exercise, my mind is clearer, and I’m able to be more effective.

I’m also trying to scale back on the caffeine, eat healthier, sleep more, and trying, trying so hard not to be addicted to social media (Side note #2: I’m working on a post about how we’ve cured boredom with social media and how terrible that is). I read somewhere that when it comes to things like eating healthy and exercise, 80% is perfection. That gives me a 20% margin to screw up. I can live with that.

Here’s what I’m getting at. I think every job description should include a responsibility to take care of yourself. Maybe even responsibility #1.

Responsibility #2 can be: “Craft and execute key strategies leading to deeper market penetration of the flux capacitor.”

(Side note #3: If you are the author of job descriptions, please, for the love of all humanity, use words a normal human being can understand.)